Yep, it's summertime again. The sun is out full blast, air conditioners are working overtime, and we wear less clothing. Off go the closed-toe shoes and sweaters, on go the sandals, flip-flops, shorts, tank tops, and breezy little dresses. It's all good. After all, when the temperatures rise, keeping cool and maintaining that relaxed, laid-back feeling of summer is what it's all about. I'll even bet that most of us have at least one pair of flip-flops and some shorts in our closets right now...

A phrase I often use to measure whether something is worth the fight is, "What hill do you want to die on?" Will a victory here be worth the possibility of losing the fight?

In the sixteen years that I have been fielding apologetic calls at Catholic Answers, a year doesn’t go by that I don't receive calls or emails from frustrated parents of children preparing for their First Communion who want their children to receive the host on the tongue but are told by the teacher that it's not...

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains holy days of obligation this way:

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord's Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.

"Who does not see that knowledge precedes faith? Nobody believes unless he knows what to believe."

~ Augustine of Hippo, convert, bishop, theologian, Father and Doctor of the Church, Saint; noting that the assent of faith is a rational act; before it can be made, it must be known for certain that there is a God, that He has spoken, and that what He has spoken is known. (see "Science and the Church")